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Thats
the pretty accurate day by day description of our C2C trip in
a nutshell.
Read on for the details
TRAINING
We started about 8 weeks out from the start date that me (rob)
and my wife (jo) had set for ourselves. The only cycling either
of us did before this was to work and back, around 4 miles in
total a day and then i ended up with a van so i did less than
jo. Newarks a reasonably flat area and to get some hills (which
didn`t compare!) to train on we had to ride about 6 mile or so
to even begin to get hills to go up and down, down being the best
bit !! Our weekly rides started at around 12 miles and a month
before the start we went upto 20 mile at least once every week
and increased in length upto a couple of 30 odd milers just before
we decided we`d done enough.
1
DAY TO GO
We hired a van to get ourselves and the bikes up to whitehaven
and made sure we`d packed everything we thought we would need
. It turned out we packed way too much stuff....but you don`t
know till you do it and we had no support vehicle so better safe
than sorry i suppose. (Jo"how did we agree on doing this"?
i can`t remember!) too late now, wayheey!!!!! and we`re off!straight
into rain that followed us up the A1 and M6. About 4 and a half
hours later we arrived at whitehaven and dropped the bags off
at the waverly hotel and drove to jims to leave the van with him
for the next few days. Jims a top bloke who is very handy and
helpful, THANKS MATE.
DAY
ONE - WHITEHAVEN TO SCALES 36.5 MILES
 Morning
broke after a very bad nights kip in the hotel (very noisy - 6/10)
and had a fryup each, bad i know but we need the calories, and
set off to the start full of nervous excitement and under a blue
sky too.Went and dipped the wheel and had photos taken by the
C2C sign (thank you mr dustbin man) Apparently a lady trashed
her blokes van in the harbour the evening we arrived but we didn`t
know that till monday night at the next b&b,and then set off
into the next hour or mores gentle climb away from the town and
into the hills around kirkland and great views over towards the
isle of man and onwards towards whinlatter. To be honest this
is just the warm up and once we had flown down the roads and past
loweswater the cycling got harder and harder as we approached
the whinlatter pass and we both had to stop for a breather and
an energy bar each. ps..aren`t camelbaks great!! We took the turn
into the whinlatter visitor centre and a well earned jacket tata
and pot of tea each. We also caught a brief glimpse of the only
other C2C`ers we would encounter throughout the trip here. Refreshed
and on through keswick we finished in scales at the county farm
guest house for the night and a pint and some food from the pub
next door.very handy! Alan and ann have a great set up and made
the stay nice and relaxing and our bags had arrived before us
also. Sherpa van did a great job for us all week for £48
in total, thanks very much to them,well done all involved. 09.30
till 16.00 time taken in total
DAY
TWO - SCALES TO GARRIGILL 40 MILES
Another fryup each (10/10 for the b&b) and into the now overcast
morning but it was warm with it so a few layers had to come off
after only a couple of miles. Through greystoke and onto penrith
and after getting lost (don`t ask strange looking old bloke for
directions!!) we found the route and another steep climb out of
the town. This is where the other lads doing the ride passed us
again and took the time to ask jo if she was ok whilst battling
this hill, she did manage a yes thanks between struggling for
breath and cursing penrith AND me AND anything else that annoyed
her! The lads had a mechanical breakdown (for more on that story
from the lads themselves click here)
that made us feel a bit sorry for them but penrith was only a
mile or so away so new parts could be fetched quickly...unlike
us on the following morning..anyway, we stopped at langwathby
for the packed lunches our b&b made for us and enjoyed the
now warm sun and said hello to the lads again as they passed us
by heading towards hartside.
Back on the bikes and the RAF gave us an impromptu air display
whilst chasing each other around the side of the hill and then
our own gradual climb began to hartside hill and it soon became
a slog up steeper and steeper gradients untill we joined the main
road upto the cafe ,beacon, oasis ,lifesaver etc and another pot
of tea and flapjack for jo and pie chips and beans for me..eyes
far to big for my belly,what a shame it looked great though :)
again we spoke to the lads who was doing it over 3 days and had
a durham lad leading them who had done the route 4 times already.
Back on our bikes and freewheel most of the way down to leadgate
and back onto quiet lanes to garrigill. You know when you`re nearly
done for the day you hate every last incline? thats us that is!
garrigill seemed bloody more than 2 miles from the main road i`ll
tell ya. We got there eventually and locked the bikes up ,again
waved and wished the durham lads all the best (that was the last
time we spotted anyone else on the route) and tucked into a salad
that ann made us at the old post office guest house. Someone else
wrote about the signs everywhere and its true,but it is someones
house aswell so fair play i suppose. Great pub next door, great
locals, unhappy land lady and no food on a tuesday?! booooooo
(hence the salad) yaaaawwwnn night night. 09.30 till 16.30 time
taken in total
DAY
THREE - GARRIGILL TO CASTLESIDE 32.5 MILES
Fryup number 3 and yet we seem to be losing a bit of weight .
(10/10 for b&b again) Well ,a light drizzle to begin the day
and then non stop heavy rain after about 300 yards!! and it lasted
all day really. Jo had the 1st of our 2 mechanical problems when
her freewheel stopped working and only the help of mark in nenthead
and the cycle shop (arrow cycles,lincoln)we bought the bikes from,helped
save the day and give us the advice needed to get the bike repaired
and road worthy again. Lots of hard steep hills today that went
on and on and on ,no doubt the rain made things seem a lot worse
though.Coming into allenheads my front brake stopped working and
with no chance of help between here and the sunderland area we
both decided that i should press on and complete the remaining
52 miles on just 1 brake. Jo let me use her to slow us down on
the hills so we remained as safe as we could be, but time was
against us meaning repairs would have to wait till we`d finished,
daft i know. So then ,coming out of rookhope we spotted in the
distance the station cafe that marks the waskerly way beginning
but wasn`t prepared for the torture that awaited us on the road
out of stanhope and up crawelyside bank. hell. just when you think
you`ve done it some more comes into view and the cafe doesn`t
seem any closer. This was jos lowest point as she was now on the
verge of packing it in and so was i to be honest, it took so long
to reach the cafe.
After cake and tea we hopped back on the bikes and flew down the
waskerly way barely without a word because of tiredness .Castleside,
and catherine at deneview b&b was such a nice sight and after
taking our wet gear from us and putting it out to dry jo had a
great shower whilst i had my own emotional moment in tears on
the floor! I think the effort had caught up with both of us only
jos was a few miles earlier than mine. The local pub (smelters
arms) did great food and a extra cold carling that didn`t touch
the sides. We liquified our assetts! 09.30 till 17.45!!!!!! total
time today
DAY
FOUR - CASTLESIDE TO SUNDERLAND 26.5 MILES THE END THANK GOD
 Yep,
thats right ,another fryup, all our gear sorted ,bikes ready thanked
catherine (20/10)both her and the b&b were that good, and
away for the last few miles all of which were mainly downhill,
i say mainly but there are 1 or 2 small hills. Jo kept looking
for the sea over every hill but to no avail yet. All the sculptures
along this final stretch are cool and i wish we had more time
to spend looking but had to meet the taxi so on we went passing
lots of friendly people and dogs and even a police man on a bike!!!!!.
On into sunderland and passed all the landmarks including the
ship yard- jo"why yie the lads" and onto the finish
at the marina and around to the beach to dip the wheel, or rather
ride out into the north sea shouting and smiling and relieved
to have finished with a HUGE sense of satisfaction. Pictures taken
by kind elderly gent in the sunshine and thats it..job done.Into
daves taxi for the ride back to whitehaven to collect the van
and then go home. Arrived back in newark at half nine and went
straight to bed and enjoyeda bit of a kip..you can`t beat your
own bed can you. it really did end that quickly you know. the
trip flew by. 09.30 TILL 13.20 TIME IN TOTAL
SUMMARY
Take food to eat everyday and make sure you have it a couple of
hours in to the ride because you`ll probably be thankful you did
later on
Take spare clothes just in case you get crap weather and obviously
take spare tubes,a few cable ties etc, we didn`t get a puncture
but the knife on the park tool sure came in useful even if the
tyre levers didn`t
Try and cycle up the off road section to black hill like jo did
but i couldn`t.
Don`t kid yourself the hills finish in rookhope, they don`t.
Do enjoy it. We really did even after day 3.
Be chuffed with the achievment ,its a big thing for people who
don`t cycle very much usually.
THANKS TO
SHERPA VAN
JIM HEWITSON
ALL THE B&BS
TYNE VALLEY HOLS
and finally we raised around £450 for the notts/lincs air
ambulance
AND WE LOVED IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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